Faculty

Many of us take our lungs for granted yet they perform a function that is critical for life, respiration. Unfortunately millions of Americans suffer from one of a number of debilitating lung diseases making the subconscious action of breathing a very conscious and difficult activity. Studying human lung disease and, in particular, the way in which a lung disease develops in humans is exceptionally difficult in a dish. For me this was the challenge that became the focus of my postdoctoral research at The Salk Institute for Biological Studies – to create a reproducible and effective way to study human lung development and disease in a dish.